Characterization Technique of Straight-Through Porous Membrane

Abstract

Recently the technology of separating materials dispersed or dissolved in liquid through use of polymeric porous membrane has attracted significant attention. Of course, the field to which porous membrane is successfully applicable, is exclusively determined by the radius (average and its distribution) of the pores existing in ex- and interior of the membrane. For example, the membrane with mean pore size less than 4 nm are available for desalination and those with 2–8 nm are for dialysis type artificial kidney and above 10 nm for ultrafiltration. Except the membrane used for the concentration of Uranium by the diffusion method, the majority of the porous membranes employed in both laboratory and industrial scales is principally polymeric materials, because, polymeric porous membrane has the following advantages: (1) Possibility of usage of various materials with different chemical nature, (2) attaininment of high degree of porosity (≃70%) and wide range of average pore size, (3) readily formability of various forms (hollow fiber membrane, envelope membrane).